besidealittle[opium]lamp

Beside a little [opium] lamp

[Image: 'Awakening from the Opium', A. Matignon, 1911]

The
author of the poem appearing below had always idolized Oscar Wilde, but
regretted never having made his acquaintance. The fact that the two men
never met was probably for the best, since the Baron Jacques
d’Adelswärd-Fersen, would have shocked and scandalized Mr. Wilde to the
point of fatal apoplexy (not unlike another royal personage who
actually had met Wilde (and with similar results);
Count Eric von Stenbock, but more of him in a future entry…!). You see,
the Baron had been arrested on more than one occasion for arcane
hobbies like administering a clandestine, opium-fueled Black Mass for
young boys who had curiously forgotten to clothe themselves; a soirée
which the local gendarmerie was very unhappy to have caught wind of, to
say the least...

Eventually, after many more capers of this type, the Baron banished himself to what he called his Capri.
It will be recalled that the Isle of Capri was first made famous by the
Emperor Tiberius Caesar, who fashioned the entire island into what is
likely to have been the first Erotic/Debauchery-oriented theme park in
history. It is said that Tiberius felt that he could temporarily divest
himself of the cares and burdens of being a Caesar by watching the very unusual activities
that his highly trained staff regaled him with. Dwarves,
hermaphrodites, prodigies, monsters and other teratological beings
besported themselves before his throne, as he leered in appreciation of
their refined and discriminating ‘talents’.

When asked what it was like to rule Rome, and thus, the known world, Tiberius said from Capri (and I paraphrase) “He who wishes to rule Rome
must learn how to ride on the back of a voracious wolf by holding onto
its ears alone. If you lose your grip, even for the briefest of
moments, all is lost.” History records that the reign of Tiberius was
followed by the gentle and sober rule of Gaius Germanicus Caesar, also
called 'Caligula'. Tee Hee!

But, I digress…

The following poem relates to one of the paraphernalia of the opium smoking ritual of more than a century ago, the Yen Dong. This little brass or silver-plated lamp was required for igniting the prepared opium (chandu) that had been placed inside of the opium pipe (Yen Tshung). Normally, a small amount of the chandu was kept within reach of the smoker in a small lacquer or ivory container called a Yen Hop (hence the English term for addicts of this type known as ‘Hop Heads’)’

Once
the opium smoker begins their narcotic reverie, the last thing that
they usually see before their eyes have completely closed, is the
little lamp; sole source of light in a universally dark abyss.